Rim joist spray foam insulation in Olds treats the band of timber sitting on top of the foundation where the floor structure lands. It is a narrow strip running the whole way round the house, it is rarely sealed, and on a rental property it has an unusual property: it is cheap and it is noticed.
The cheapest thing a landlord can do that a tenant will notice
Most envelope work is invisible. Somebody spends money and the building is quietly better, which is difficult to justify on a property somebody else lives in. The band is different. Sealing it stops the cold draught across the basement floor and takes the cold edge off the floor upstairs, and those are things the people living there actually remark on. For an Olds landlord that combination, low cost and visible effect, makes it the first thing worth doing.
Cold air enters low and stays low
The mechanism is simple and it explains why the effect is felt where it is. Air entering at the band is cold and therefore heavy, so it spreads across the basement floor rather than mixing. It cools the underside of the floor above, which is why the room upstairs has a cold edge near the outside walls while the middle is fine, and why turning the thermostat up does not fix it.
What is in the bays in a house of this vintage
Open a basement ceiling in an Olds rental and the bays are empty or hold a piece of batt somebody pushed in. Batt slows heat and does not stop air, and the band is fundamentally an air problem: the joint between the sill plate and the top of the concrete, and the gap at each end of every joist bay. Closed cell foam goes in as a liquid, fills those joints and stays stuck to both surfaces, which is why this detail wants a different product from the rest of the house.
Reached in part of a day, with nobody moving out
The practical part matters on a let property. Where the basement ceiling is open the bays are visible from below, there is nothing to demolish and the work is done in part of a day. Nobody has to move out, no room is unusable, and there is no reinstatement afterwards. On a house with tenants in it that is frequently the difference between work that happens and work that gets postponed indefinitely.
Rim Joist Spray Foam Insulation Olds: Common Questions
Will the tenants actually notice? Yes, which is unusual for envelope work. The basement draught and the cold floor edge both change.
How disruptive is it? Part of a day, no demolition where the ceiling is open, and nobody has to move out.
What if there is already batt in there? Batt does not seal the joints and the joints are the point. It comes out.
Size the assembly with the R-value calculator, then get a free Olds quote. More on Rim Joist Spray Foam Insulation Alberta.